Sabra Lane: Dr Anne Aly is the Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Prior to being a politician, she was a counter-terrorism expert. Anne Aly, thanks for joining AM.
Anne Aly: Thank you, Sabra.
Sabra Lane: Many Jewish Australians believe this is not a safe country anymore. Some are talking about leaving and they’re disappointed by the Albanese government’s approach to anti-Semitism and they feared an attack like the one that actually happened on the weekend. Can you understand their dismay?
Anne Aly: Of course I can. I can understand their fear. I can understand the shattering of their sense of security. I can understand their shattering of a sense that Australia is a safe place. What happened on Sunday is absolutely horrendous. This does not define our country. It does not define who we are. I was pondering on this last night and I think it needs to be said and it needs to be said repeatedly because unfortunately hate is continuous and it’s a continuous struggle that we have against hate. I’ve spoken to Jewish Australians in my community in Western Australia. I speak with the anti-Semitism envoy fairly regularly and I’m aware of these feelings of insecurity that have been growing among our Jewish Australian communities for some time now. That’s why we’ve done things like committed resources to increasing security for them as well. But yes, I completely understand it and I think most Australians would.
Sabra Lane: Jillian Segal yesterday said there hasn’t been the education in schools to understand what anti-Semitism is and how it destroys communities. She delivered quite an extensive report in July and the government is yet to respond to all of it. Will you respond? Why many wonder why the government’s been so slow to act on it?
Anne Aly: Well, we haven’t been slow to act on it, Sabra, and I can give you the details and the list of actions that we have taken that are directly related to or directly aligned with the recommendations or the actions within Julianne’s report. Among them, the strengthening of legislation. Among them, the strengthening of institutional accountability and reform, education awareness and public discourse. We’ve expanded the work of All Together Now, sorry, Together for Humanity, that works within schools around education and I’m very familiar with their work. I’ve done work with them over a decade ago. We’ve enhanced the protection of Jewish communities through physical security measures. All of these are actions that are in Jillian’s plan.
Sabra Lane: The Prime Minister says he will do whatever it takes to stamp out anti-Semitism. The ASIO chief said in February that it was the number one threat to life here. Yet again, I say people think that there is a reluctance to put all those recommendations in place. For example, Ms Segal yesterday was saying there’s not enough monitoring of media to check on anti-Semitism and it still appears to be sort of flourishing at universities.
Anne Aly: There has been work done at University Sabra and that’s done primarily by Jason.
Sabra Lane: Is it happening quickly enough?
Anne Aly: There’s a National Student Ombudsman established on the 1st of February 2025 and that ombudsman has strong powers similar to those of a Royal Commission. There’s been a review of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, the act that has also commenced. So there is work ongoing. But I will say this, I really do want to respond to this question, Sabra, and that is that the fight against hate, the fight against anti-Semitism is a whole of community responsibility. Governments can do so much. They can do so much. We can do things to decrease opportunity like target hardening. We can do things to set standards around anti-Semitism. But this is a whole of community responsibility. And so recommendations or the actions within Jillian’s report that go to things like education, that go to things like institutional accountability, recognise that, recognise that it is a whole of community responsibility.
Sabra Lane: Many people are struggling to understand how a man can be licensed to have six weapons and his son, previously under close watch for suspected links to ISIS, can together carry out this attack without authorities knowing. You’re a counter-terrorism expert. How likely is it that no one else knew? And do you see this as an intelligence failure?
Anne Aly: Well, I think, you know, first of all, one point to make is that we only ever hear about security when it fails. Unfortunately, we don’t get to hear about all the successes that it has or all the plans or plots that have been foiled. That’s the first point I would make. The second point that I would make, and I think you’ll appreciate this, is that there is an investigation ongoing. I expect that there will be a full investigation and that it would be really unwise to comment or to speculate at this point about any kind of parts of that investigation while it’s ongoing. I will also add there that we need to have confidence in our security agencies, in the police, the swift police response on Sunday. I think Australians can have confidence in those kinds of responses as well.
Sabra Lane: Some Australians are already questioning the government’s motives in tightening gun laws, asserting that this is a distraction from allowing too many people into Australia who aren’t genuine in wanting to be part of this community. How do you respond to that?
Anne Aly: Well, I would say that this is part of the misinformation, the disinformation that we’ve seen on social media, particularly on social media. The fact is that, as you just said in your last question or that you mentioned in your last question, this was a person who had six guns and whose son, the other person, the other perpetrator, had a history and was allowed access in whatever form to those guns. So it’s very clear here that there is a case to be made for a tightening of our gun laws.
Sabra Lane: Anne Aly thanks for talking to AM this morning.
Anne Aly: Thank you, Sabra.
Sabra Lane: And Dr Aly is the Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs.
